1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a recliner for adjusting a reclining position of a seat back of an automotive seat. More specifically, the invention relates to a double lock recliner which includes a pair of recliner devices at both sides of an automotive seat.
2. Description of the Background Art
In general, an automotive seat, particularly a front seat, is capable of adjusting a tilting angle of a seat back relative to a seat cushion so as to permit adjustment a seating position of the seat occupant. For this purpose, a recliner is provided for permitting pivotal movement of the seat back relative to the seat cushion. Normally, the seat recliner includes a singular recliner device oriented at one side of the seat and a pivot device at the other side of the seat. In such construction, since the pivot device has no capability of locking the seat at the selected reclining position or tilting position of the seat back, distortion or twisting of the seat back can be caused to degrade comfort at the seat.
For improving this, there has been recently proposed a so-called double lock recliner which has symmetric recliner devices at both sides of the seat. Because the recliner devices are provided at both sides of the seat, locking at each respective recliner device has to be released. As can be naturally appreciated, an independent lock releasing operation for each respective recliner device should be too cumbersome or troublesome for the seat occupant and thus is preferred to be avoided. For this purpose, the recently proposed double lock recliner comprises a primary recliner device which incorporates a release structure operable by means of a manually operable release lever for releasing locking, and an auxiliary recliner device to be oriented at the side opposite to the primary recliner device. In such construction, the auxiliary recliner device is connected to the primary recliner device by means of a rotary lever. The link lever carries a pivotal lever which is connected to an operation lever pivotally mounted on a base plate. The operation lever carries an operation pin associated with an elongated slot formed through the base plate. The operation pin is connected to an actuation level associated with a locking tooth member.
With this construction, the operational input through the manually operable release lever of the primary recliner device can be transferred through the rotary lever for synchronous operation of the auxiliary recliner device.
On the other hand, in the usual automotive seat, a buckle device for a safety belt is to be provided at one side of the seat. The buckle device is normally provided at an inner side i.e., a (side adjacent the center line of the vehicle) of the seat, where the auxiliary recliner device can be provided. When an auxiliary recliner device is provided at the inner side of the seat, the buckle device can interfere with pivotal movement of the pivotal lever set forth above. For avoiding this interference, the base plate has to be large enough to permit installation of the buckle device with the auxiliary recliner device.